Stealing
Pickpockets, brigands and thieves often prefer to live life in the shadows of Britannia, stealthily earning a living off the pockets and chests of others. A skilled thief can steal from Monsters, chests, NPCs and other players.
Attempting to steal an item will reveal you if you are Hidden or Invisible. It is typically considered wise to Stealth over to your target beforehand, then (if your mark is another character), use the Snooping skill to better pinpoint the item you're after. You must have both hands free to steal and will need to wait ten seconds before you can use another skill.
To steal from other players, one must join the Thieves Guild and make all attempts within the Felucca facet.
You may not take items that weigh more then your skill level divided by 10, nor items that are Blessed or Insured. Attempting to steal directly from another player (as opposed to Snooping them first and selecting a specific item) will result in a random item being chosen, which may weigh too much or be Blessed/Insured (resulting in automatic failure).
Attempting to steal from another player, whether the item is taken or not, may make you a Criminal. The chances of this decreases as your skill rises, but the more characters (including NPCs) are nearby, the more likely you'll be "caught in the act". Assuming you are not seen, you will retain your Blue status.
Certain special artifacts and items can only be obtained by stealing in certain areas (such as the Doom Stealables) or by stealing from Monsters.
Training
- 0 - 30: Train at NPC Thief
You will need a pack animal (Pack Horse, Pack Llama, or Giant Beetle) and a stack of items. Make sure you tell the pack animal to guard you if you train inside the guard zone! Any items will do such as Empty Bottles, Wood, Leather, or Gold. Just as long as the stack weighs 12 stones or more. Stealing is mainly trained on the Felucca facet. However, stealing skill points can be gained in Trammel. The blacksmith shop in Buccaneer's Den is one such Trammel location.
To train, place the specified weight of items on the pack animal and attempt to steal them. No matter whether you fail, succeed, or only steal part of the pile, take the remaining items and restack them. Pull out a new stack of the appropriate weight and put it on the pack animal. Steal again.
- 30 - 40: 3 stones
- 40 - 50: 4 stones
- 50 - 60: 5 stones
- 60 - 70: 6 stones
- 70 - 80: 7 stones
- 80 - 90: 8 stones
- 90 - 100: 9 stones
- 100 - 110: 10 stones
- 110 - 120: 11 stones
Joining the Thieves Guild
In order to steal from other players, a character must join the Thieves Guild. To do this, one must find a Thief Guild Master, which are found in random locations in most towns. Once located, a character can join the guild by saying: "(NPC Name) join". If the character is at least 48 in-game hours old and has at least 60 Stealing skill, 500 gold pieces will be requested as payment to join. The payment must then be dragged onto them to complete the joining process. If the character has not met the skill and age requirements, they will be refused membership in the Thieves Guild until they meet the requirements. Being a member of the Thieves Guild also allows a player to buy and use a disguise kit.
Note: Players in the Thieves Guild cannot give Murder Counts and are freely lootable if killed.
Calculations
The calculations for the the success chances when stealing from another are rather complex. There is an in depth explanation on the UOThief Website.